Mayor and Cabinet approved the Catford reset on 9 September. The 2021 masterplan built on moving the South Circular is dead; the £2.5m plan funds crossings, lighting, the market and the Cat instead.

Lewisham Council has torn up its 2021 plan for Catford town centre and replaced it with a smaller programme it says it can actually deliver. Mayor and Cabinet approved the Catford Town Centre Business Plan 2026-2030 on Wednesday 9 September, with every recommendation passed as set out (printed decisions).

The old framework depended on moving the A205 South Circular away from the town centre, then demolishing Laurence House, Milford Towers and the Catford Shopping Centre. Central government withdrew funding for the road realignment, and the council’s report is blunt about the consequence: the proposal “can no longer be pursued”.

The council announced the reset on 2 September (Lewisham Council). Councillor Daniel Dream, Cabinet Member for Inclusive Regeneration, Housing Delivery and Planning, said: “The reality is that the 2021 framework is no longer deliverable, so we’re hitting reset. Instead of making promises we can’t keep, we’re focusing on the improvements we can deliver now: the changes that will make a real difference to local people and businesses.” The cabinet member also said: “Like many local people, I’ve been frustrated by the pace of change in Catford.”

What the new plan actually funds

The report asks for £250,000 a year of revenue funding and £250,000 a year of capital over five years, £2.5m in total, with the first year paid for from reserves (committee report). The named projects:

  • Catford Station Links: decluttering and connecting the two stations, with a new public realm between them. Design work has restarted, a contractor is to be procured in spring 2027 and construction is expected from autumn 2027 to spring 2028.
  • A205/A21 improvements: the replacement for the realignment. A targeted package within the existing road layout, including a new crossing by the Catford Bridge Tavern, better crossings on Brownhill Road, public realm around the Broadway Theatre, an improved left turn at Canadian Avenue and a cycle parking hub. Funding is £2.9m of Housing Infrastructure Fund grant (which must be spent by 31 March 2028), up to £3.69m of Community Infrastructure Levy and up to £3.69m from TfL. Phased delivery runs from 2027 to 2029.
  • Thomas’ Lane Yard: 113 affordable homes, about 1,000 square metres of commercial space and 3,000 square metres of new public realm, delivered with The Hill Group. Enabling works started in late August 2026; completion is expected in autumn 2029. The scheme requires the permanent closure of the 60-space Thomas’ Lane car park, including its six Blue Badge bays, which goes to statutory consultation.
  • High Street Place Lab: shutter murals, market improvements on Catford Broadway, better lighting and wayfinding, and restoration of the Catford Cat.
  • Doggett Road: double yellow lines by the eastern entrance to Catford Bridge station, to stop the parking and refuse storage the report says gives arrivals “an exceptionally poor sense of arrival”.

The shopping centre stays, for now

Rather than demolition, the refreshed framework will explore “retrofit and refurbishment” of the Catford Shopping Centre and Milford Towers, plus possible development of the Canadian Avenue car park. A new Catford Town Centre Framework will be drawn up to set the long-term picture.

The report also deals with the council’s town centre landlord, Catford Regeneration Partnership Limited (CRPL), the wholly owned company that has held the shopping centre since 2010 while redevelopment stalled. Mayor and Cabinet approved a new loan agreement with an extra £500,000 facility, wrote off £1,280,249 of rental arrears and £110,896 of service charge arrears, and approved a £400,000 budget to review what CRPL is for (printed decisions).

What it means for you

  • The long-promised wholesale rebuild of central Catford is off the table for this decade. The focus to 2030 is crossings, lighting, the market, the stations and one housing scheme.
  • Thomas’ Lane car park is set to close permanently. The council points drivers to Holbeach Road and Canadian Avenue car parks; objections can be made during the statutory consultation, which will be advertised in the local press.
  • Goldsmiths, University of London, is still due to open its Catford campus at the Old Town Hall in September 2027, bringing 500 to 600 students and staff into the town centre. The building must be vacated by the council this autumn for works, and the report notes the compressed timetable and the financial pressure on the university as live risks.
  • The Catford Castle cinema is set to open in autumn 2026, and the report says work between the council and the Metropolitan Police will build on Operation Martello, the anti-social behaviour intervention that ran from September 2025 to March 2026.

Update, 15 September: the council has published the printed decisions from the 9 September meeting. Every recommendation was approved as set out above, including the new business plan, the annual £250,000 revenue allocation, the CRPL loan agreement and arrears write-off, the revised A205 approach, and the advertising of the parking changes at Thomas’ Lane and Doggett Road. One element still has a step to go: the matching £250,000-a-year capital increase was recommended to Full Council, which meets on 23 September.

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